Airline News

AirBaltic is not just helping out an idled peer in its deal to lease an aircraft from Ukraine International Airlines this summer. It's also an example of how bad the global supply chain issues are.

The federal government finally recognizes that there is a shortage of pilots in the U.S. But beyond platitudes, there are few new funds directed at easing it yet.

Waterfront-to-waterfront flights between D.C. and New York would be cool. They're not likely anytime soon.

Good morning from Skift. It's Tuesday, May 3, in New York City. Here's what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Qantas finally did it. After years of gauging the market for Sydney-New York and Sydney-London flights, and delaying the project during the pandemic, the Australian carrier is forging ahead with an order for 12 Airbus A350s that can handle the almost-20-hour flight time. But will customers want to spend that long in an airplane? Qantas thinks so.

For the longest time, especially to minority communities, becoming a pilot has been been an out-of-reach career. Today, United's Aviate Academy is taking strides to change that, defining true accessibility for everyone and along the way addressing a pilot shortage holding all of aviation back.

Spirit has spoken. Frontier is its preferred partner, even after a sweeter deal from JetBlue.

The recovery was looking good until a laundry list of non-pandemic issues got in the way. With results in from almost every major U.S. airline, the outlook is both bright…

The takeaway for airlines so far: demand changed for the better in March but summer may not be as rosy as many hoped, at least for travelers. Staffing concerns continue to weigh on schedules, threatening limited and pricey options for those with pent-up demand to travel.

Big changes are underway in Latin American aviation. After restructuring as a quasi-budget airline, Colombia's Avianca now wants to acquire discount competitor Viva Air in a deal that could give it two-thirds of the Colombian market.